Can I Call Him Dad?
by Ink Stained Keys
Summary: Teddy is torn between love for his dead father and love for Harry. Will anyone convince him that he can have both? Cute little one-shot with lots of fluff. No Slash!


A/N: Hey Peeps! Just a bit of bonding fluff between Harry and Teddy and some parent fluff with Remus and Tonks and Teddy… so an overdose of Teddy fluff

No flames, but if you feel that you absolutely must (not that I would know why…), please keep out any and all obscenities. Thank you!

Disclaimer: We the author of this piece of literature do disclaim all rights of the Harry Potter franchise, leaving it in the capable hands of the esteemed J. K. Rowling. ^_~

* * *

Teddy skipped down the hall, looking into each room he passed for a familiar shock of black hair. He found it in the living room, in the armchair by the window bent over a thick book. "Hey D–" Teddy stopped, shocked at himself. _Dad? I was about to call Harry, Dad. Harry's not my Dad_. There was a twisting feeling in his gut. If Teddy were honest with himself, he would love to call Harry 'Dad'. Harry had been the main father figure in his life, but it felt wrong, like he'd be betraying his parents.

Harry was looking curiously at him. "Teddy?" he asked cautiously. "What's wrong?"

Teddy pasted a fake smile on. "Nothing," he said brightly. "Can we get some ice cream?" Harry studied the rigid seven-year-old as if he didn't believe him, but he didn't push the matter. Teddy refused to look Harry in the face; afraid he might slip up again.

"Alright," he said, closing _A Revised History of Hogwarts_ and holding out his hand for Teddy to take. "Fortescue's it is. A sundae with double everything?" Teddy grinned up at him. Harry knew him too well. _Like a dad._ The twisting feeling worsened.

* * *

That night, Harry tucked Teddy into bed, kissing his forehead. "Goodnight Teddy Bear. Sweet dreams. I love you." Then, smoothing the covers down again, he switched off the light and left.

Teddy waited until he couldn't hear Harry's footsteps anymore. He quietly slipped out of bed and knelt beside it, clasping his hands in prayer. He looked around warily, unsure of what he was about to do.

"Er," he began. "Hello, Mr. God. My name is Teddy Remus Lupin, even though it's actually Theodore, but that's too stuffy." He wrinkled his nose. "Anyway, can I talk to my Mum and Dad? Their names are Nymphadora and Remus." He waited a moment, feeling slightly foolish. "Okay…Er…I hope you can hear me. Hello Mum, hello Dad. It's me Teddy. I'm seven years old now and I can change my hair colour. I usually make it turquoise 'cause that's my favorite colour. Harry says you could do it too, Mum, and that when I'm older I'll be able to change my whole body. My real hair is all brown and sandy like yours, Dad, but sometimes I change it to pink like yours, Mum. I've seen the pictures." He was feeling more comfortable now. "I saw your wedding pictures too. I think you were beautiful, Mum, but don't tell anyone I said that," he said quickly. "I'm a boy and boys aren't supposed to think girls are pretty.

"I need to ask you something, though. That's the real reason I called. Today, I went to ask Harry if we could get ice cream, and I almost called him Dad. And I feel mean. My stomach hurt. 'Cause, he's not my real dad, but I want to call him 'Dad', but I still love you very much, but you aren't here, but that doesn't mean I hate you, and I don't know what to do!" He finished on wail. He sniffed and suddenly became aware of the tears slipping down his cheeks. "Don't hate me," he pleaded softly. "You're still my Dad, and I miss you very much, but I've been wanting to call him 'Dad' for a long time. Is that ok?"

He shuffled. "Well, that's all I wanted to know. I hope you are having fun with Uncle Sirius and Uncle James and Aunt Lily and Grandpa Ted and Uncle Fred. I love you, and I miss you very much. I think I should go to bed now, or else I might get in trouble. It's way past my bedtime. Good night." He got back into bed and then gasped and flung himself out again. "Oh, and thanks Mr. God for letting me talk to them." He got up and slipped back under the covers, wiping his tears and falling into a sound sleep.

* * *

Up in the clouds a pink haired woman sobbed into her husband's arms while he barely held back tears.

"Remus," Tonks said, in between tears, "he thinks we hate him. My baby thinks I hate him and I can't even do anything about it!"

"Dora," Remus replied, rubbing her back. "It'll be okay. Don't worry." But he felt these empty words as keenly as a knife.

Lily was standing to the side. She knew that this was a private moment, but she had to say something. "You can try speaking to him in his dreams," she offered.

"How?" Tonks asked, wiping her face.

"You have to visualize it: the setting, Teddy, yourselves, everything. It takes an immense amount of concentration, which is the hard part. Not many can do it."

Tonks shut her eyes, and a tense moment later she vanished, but then she winked back into form. "It didn't work!" she wailed.

"Try again!" Lily urged. Remus grabbed Tonks' hand and they both vanished a second later and didn't reappear. Lily breathed a sigh of relief.

* * *

_Teddy found himself on the shore of a crystal clear lake. An enormous tree shaded most of the bank and Teddy lay back against one of its massive roots, feeling sleepy in the warm sunlight. He slowly drowsed. Teddy was almost asleep when he heard something. _

"_Teddy, Teddy. Baby, wake up." Teddy opened his eyes to see Tonks kneeling beside him brushing his hair back from his face. Teddy's eyes shot open as he was lifted from behind and placed in someone's lap. He whipped his head around to see Remus grinning back at him. _

"_Mum? Dad?" Teddy croaked, needing confirmation. Tonks just smiled watery-eyed and Remus tightened his arms around Teddy burying his nose in Teddy's soft sandy brown hair. Teddy wrapped his arms around Tonks neck and pulled her close, tears welling up in his eyes, but they were tears of joy. After a few moments, Teddy seemed to realize that he had parents to talk to and began to regale them with tales from the frog he had found in the back yard, which his gran refused to let him keep to the flying lesson Harry had given him yesterday. _

"–_but then I fell off the broom, but I wasn't too high, and Harry caught me, so I was okay." _

"_Remind me to haunt Harry for a bit," Tonks muttered to Remus, who laughed. "Don't laugh! Teddy fell off a broom!" _

"_Like you've never," Remus retorted and Tonks blushed. "It's genetic. Anyway, young man, didn't you call us for something else?" _

_Teddy blushed and hid his face in Remus' robes. "I'm sorry," he murmured. He began to tremble lightly. _

_Remus looked alarmed. "Hey cub, don't cry! You haven't done anything wrong. Talk to me." Tonks rubbed Teddy's back soothingly. _

_Teddy looked up, sniffing. "I almost called Harry, 'Dad'," he wailed. "It just came out, but he's not my Dad, is he? You are!" _

_Tonks pulled Teddy into her lap while Remus took Teddy's face in his hands. "Okay, first, stop panicking. I'm not upset with you. Yes, I am your father and I am very proud of you and I love you very much. But," he said, swallowing thickly, "I'm not alive. I'm not with you and I knew that was a chance I would have to take. That's why asked Harry to take care of you; because, if there was one person I trusted to raise my son, it was he. There's a reason he called your God_father_. He's your father since I'm not there." He stroked Teddy's hair back from his forehead. "I'm okay with you calling him 'Dad'."_

_Teddy's eyes sparked. "So," he said hesitantly, "you won't be upset?"_

_Tonks hugged him closer. "No, we won't be upset. And," she continued, "if you want to call Ginny 'Mum' I'll be okay with that too." Her eyes twinkled. "As long as you still think I'm prettiest." Teddy giggled. _

"_Yeah, my Mum is the prettiestest!" _

_Teddy sat in their embrace for a long time as they spoke quietly. Later, he couldn't remember what they had spoken about but he remembered the quiet tones of his father's voice and the bright jingle in his mother's and they way Remus' low laugh complimented Tonks' clear one. Closing his eyes, Teddy slowly drifted off to sleep. _

* * *

Teddy woke up, a warm feeling spreading from the top of his head to the tip of his toes. "They love me," he said aloud, in wonderment. Then he giggled, scrunching up into a ball before launching himself off the bed. He hopped down the stairs two at a time and raced into the kitchen. Harry was in the kitchen. Ginny was most likely still asleep since she had just gotten back from her Quidditch tour last night.

"Hey Teddy Bear," Harry said. "Want some pancakes?"

Teddy and Harry sat, munching on their pancakes. Teddy's was full of chocolate chips and topped with strawberries and whipped cream, just how he liked it. They finished breakfast and Teddy ran to get his favorite book, _Fitz the Dragon_, climbing into Harry's lap.

He took a deep breath and pushed the book into Harry's chest. "Dad! Read!"

Harry stiffened. "What did you call me?" he whispered hoarsely.

Teddy lost all the courage he had built up. "Never mind," he said quietly.

Harry tilted Teddy's chin up to meet his eyes. "No, not _never mind_. Did you call me Dad?"

Teddy nodded. "Is that ok?" he whispered. "I know you aren't my real dad but he said it was ok if I called you 'Dad' and Mum said it was ok if I called Ginny 'Mum'." Harry said nothing, still trying to process what had just happened, but Teddy took his silence for anger. "Sorry," he said hurriedly and he slipped off Harry's lap, running for the stairs. His eyes burned with the tears he refused to let fall.

Harry jumped off the couch and sprinted after him, scooping him up before he reached the steps and hugged him tightly. "I'm not angry kiddo. I'm just surprised. I'm okay with it. Are you sure though?"

Teddy nodded, clutching Harry around the neck. "Dad said that you were my dad while he's not here and that's why he made you my Godfather. I'm sure. You're my dad now." Harry hugged Teddy tighter, burying his face in Teddy's hair, just as Remus had done.

"I love you, Dad," Teddy murmured, face still hidden in Harry's shoulder.

"Love you too kid. I love you too."


End file.
